ST. PAUL, Minn. – On June 23, 2016 Senior Community Services, which serves Minnesota older adults and their caregivers, began their journey of receiving Points of Light’s Service Enterprise Certification. After attending four Points of Light training sessions with a cohort of other Non-profit organizations, and spending a year working together to improve their volunteer program, on July 18, 2017, Senior Community Services was officially awarded Points of Light’s Service Enterprise Certification for fundamentally leveraging volunteers and their skills across all levels of the organization to successfully deliver on its social mission. The Certification and seal indicate that Senior Community Services meets all ten of Points of Lights effective Service Enterprise standards.
The certification addresses a nonprofit organization’s volunteer program in ten critical areas: Planning and development, effective training, leadership support, outreach, on-boarding and supervision, resource allocation, technology and communications, tracking and evaluation, partnering to extend reach and funding.
“Volunteerism has been an integral part of our history since 1950. Last year, we served nearly 24,000 older adults and their families with the assistance of 3,810 wonderful volunteers. By going through the Service Enterprise certification process, we learned how to expand our volunteer program even more and increase our capacity and sustainability. Our new vision for our volunteer program – Volunteers: Engaged + Empowered + Energized = Positive Impact!” said Deb Taylor, CEO of Senior Community Services.
Nonprofit Excellence
Senior Community Services is now listed as a Service Enterprise organization on the Points of Light website, http://www.pointsoflight.org/service-enterprises/MN. This listing helps a nonprofit organization demonstrate to the public its commitment to deeply integrate volunteers into all areas of the organization to maximize the experience for the volunteer and the impact of the organization as a whole.
On their website, Points of Light shares the benefits of gaining Service Enterprise Certification:
“Nonprofits that operate as Service Enterprises more effectively address community needs and run on almost half the median budget than those nonprofits that do not leverage volunteers across all levels of their organization. When an organization leverages volunteers, managing them effectively, it is in a better position to grow.”
For details on Senior Community Services’ many free or low-cost services for older adults and their caregivers, visit www.seniorcommunity.org or call 952-541-1019.
